Pope unveils 2025 theme for World Day of Prayer for Creation: “Seeds of Peace and Hope”

Pope Francis has chosen “Seeds of Peace and Hope” as the official theme for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation 2025, highlighting the urgent need to nurture peace in harmony with the environment.

The announcement was made through a communiqué issued by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, which also underscored that this year's observance takes on special significance. 

The year 2025 marks the Jubilee Year of the Catholic Church and the tenth anniversary of the landmark encyclical Laudato si’, Pope Francis’s foundational document on care for our common home.

The World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation marks the opening of the Season of Creation, an ecumenical initiative celebrated globally by Christian communities, and is held annually on September 1. The season runs until October 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology.

This year's overarching theme for the Season of Creation is “Peace with Creation,” drawing inspiration from the prophetic words of Isaiah 32:14-18, a passage that envisions peace as the fruit of justice and harmony with the land.

The Vatican communiqué emphasized the deep connection between peace and environmental stewardship, a recurring theme in the teachings of Pope Francis and his predecessors. 

It echoes previous messages from the World Day of Peace in 1990 and 2010, which highlighted how war, violence, environmental degradation, and the waste of natural resources are all deeply interconnected.

Pope Francis’s message encourages the faithful to pray for the conditions necessary to cultivate peace—a peace that is lasting, inclusive, and inspires hope.

The chosen metaphor of "seeds" reflects the need for long-term commitment and patient cultivation of peace through daily acts of care and responsibility toward the Earth and one another.

The message also presents concrete examples from various continents, showcasing “seeds of peace and hope” through local actions, community practices, and policy efforts that reflect the spirit of ecological conversion.

As the Church prepares for the Jubilee Year, the 2025 observance invites Christians around the world to deepen their commitment to ecological justice, inspired by faith, Scripture, and the pressing challenges of our times.